One important area of the body that is often overlooked and/or neglected while treating injuries is the musculoskeletal system and myofascial tissue. The musculoskeletal system includes the connection of muscles with the skeleton, spine, brain and the connective tissues bridging these organs and structures together. Myofascial tissue pertains to the fibrous tissues called fascia (i.e., soft tissue) that encloses and separates layers of muscle. Further, muscles and their connective tissue connect different portions of the skeleton from the top of the head down through the torso and all the way to the feet.
Myofascial and musculoskeletal injuries occur in a variety of ways. Accidents, falls, poor body mechanics, poor posture, stress from everyday activities, tension, improper exercise regiments, and age related degeneration relate to some of the factors that cause these types of injuries directly or indirectly. When the human body is adversely affected by a soft tissue injury (i.e., myofascial/musculoskeletal) the body's central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord, receives a pain message that is detected by nerve receptors called nociceptors.
After the body's central nervous system receives a pain message, it attempts to protect the injured location by sending a signal to the surrounding muscle to guard itself and sustain a static position to avoid shear force. In other words, the surrounding muscle is forced to work harder to protect the injured area, which produces tensional imbalances on the body tissues of the musculoskeletal system which can create contracture and compression on such tissues causing the systems of the body to decalibrate from their naturally balanced state. A contracture is the shortening of soft tissue and could occur in a muscle, tendon, ligament, or fasciae.
If the musculoskeletal system and/or soft tissue injury locations are left unattended, the connective tissue will progressively contract, stick or glue to itself even when the connected muscle is stretched. Contracted connective tissue can therefore contribute to decalibration of the musculoskeletal system from its natural state causing tensional imbalances. As an imbalance occurs in one area of the body, the contracture of muscular and connective tissues imparts similar imbalances in the surrounding areas. What can occur then is a chain reaction of tissue contractions that can spread from a single point to several points along the length of the body perpetuating imbalances throughout the body.
The result of tensional imbalances related to soft tissue injuries can often manifest themselves as physical pain. In order to break the pain cycle, an external intervention must be introduced to stimulate release of these tensional imbalances, in order to decrease muscle tension. Currently, one type of therapy used to treat myofascial and musculoskeletal imbalances and/or tension is myofascial release therapy.
Myofascial release is a form of soft tissue therapy used to treat somatic dysfunction and the resultant pain and restriction of motion. The direct myofascial release (or deep tissue work) method engages the myofascial tissue (tension). The tissue is loaded with a constant force until release occurs. Practitioners use knuckles, elbows, forearm or other compressive tools and postural tapes to slowly stretch the restricted fascia by applying a few kilograms-force or tens of newtons. Direct myofascial release is an attempt to bring about changes in the myofascial structures by stretching or elongation of fascia, or mobilizing adhesive tissues.
Indirect myofascial release involves a gentle stretch, with only a few grams of pressure, which allows the fascia to ‘unwind’ itself. The dysfunctional tissues are guided along the path of least resistance until free movement is achieved. Moreover, this technique involves a slow stretch of the fascia until reaching a barrier and/or restriction. As the barrier and/or restrictions releases, the hand will feel the motion and softening of the tissue. The key to this technique is sustained pressure over time.
Currently, postural or prosthetic tapes are used to treat myofascial and/or musculoskeletal conditions by applying the tape directly to the affected area. The tape will remain on the affected area for a select amount of time to bring myofascial and/or musculoskeletal tissue back to normal. This technique is passive because the tape remains on the affected area without any further manipulation of the tape. In fact, one problem associated with this technique is that it does not allow a physical therapist and/or patient to lift and/or shift the tape by hand in order to speed up the process of bringing the myofascial and/or musculoskeletal tissue back to normal.
In light of the shortcomings in the prior art, there is a need for a soft tissue mobilizing device to replace outdated postural and/or prosthetic tapes that includes a tab gripping mechanism for allowing a physical therapist, patient or the like to lift and shift the device by hand via a flossing (i.e., pulling, shifting, stretching) motion in order to speed up the time period of bringing myofascial and/or musculoskeletal tissue back to normal.